England has never won the Cricket World Cup, but as the host team and with a stellar record from the last few years of test matches, it’s easy to see why they’ve become the bookies’ favourite for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. And, as thousands of people flock to London for the Cricket World Cup this June, the excitement is already palpable. Hotels in London have started taking hotel bookings for the tournament and soon-to-be visitors have started researching the best places for Indian afternoon tea in London.With ten teams from across the world participating in the World Cup, it’s easy to see why so many visitors are taking advantage of hotel’s book now pay later scheme, ensuring comfortable accommodation for this year’s must-see sporting event.So, with hotel bookings filling up and the bookies’ placing their bets, there’s only one things left to do. Ask ourselves whether or not the England team could actually win the match.
Will they?
One major piece of evidence which puts the UK in good stead is that their recent performance has been solid, to say the least. In February, the one-day international in Grenada saw the team win by 418 runs to 6. With that in mind, the UK hasn’t lost an ODI one day international since losing in the semi-finals in June 2017.
Since then, the England team has won against Australia twice, the West Indies, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka. All of these teams are also playing the world cup and have not fared well against England’s current team.
All of this has established the England team as the bookies favourite, giving them a generous 5/2 on betting odds. This, paired with the unparalleled and passionate support of England cricket fans and the fact that they are playing on home ground means that the UK is in a solid place before the world cup begins at the end of the month.
Won’t they?
That being said, there is clear evidence that UK is not all they’re cracked up to be, with their defeat at the beginning of March to the West Indies, who won by seven wickets. Though the set of two matches had the teams draw, the defeat was embarrassing for the UK, who only needed a small margin of runs to defeat their Sri Lankan rivals on aggregate scores.
It’s easy to see how the camp can be so divided; the margin of England’s losses, especially in 2017 against Scotland in an ODI match and a fall to 20-6 against South Africa that same year can show a lack of consistency in their record. It also shows that when they play badly, they really do play badly. Even the England coach Trevor Bayliss in a recent podcast interview has commented that “the gulf between our good matches in this series and our bad one is huge”. All of this just goes to show how dramatic a change the England team can see.
So what’s the consensus?
With all of this in mind, England lead in the ODI’s with a high average of 6.25 runs and do show a consistency in their playing. They have started learning from their mistakes which have been fatal in the past but show a positive mentality of collective self-betterment.
When it comes down to it though, guests at the Hyde Park Hotel will have to decide for themselves as to whether they want to see England play matches at the Kia Oval and Lord’s, or if they want to take a chance on one of the other nine teams.
